PERIOD DRAMA: Written by Mustafa Afridi, Aangan is set in 1940s touching the base of pre-partition era featuring Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir, sharing an on-screen chemistry yet again after Yaqeen Ka Safar.

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By Muhammad Asad Ullah

With November 2018 finally here, we have myriad things to look forward to for 2019, and all the brand-new Pakistani drama serials coming to the screen is undoubtedly one of the things we’re most hyped for. Surely, this year was full of favourites — from Pakistani entertainment channel HUM TV’s Yaqeen Ka Safar (2018), starring Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir, to Khaani (2018), starring Sana Javed and Feroze Khan, on entertainment channel Geo, but if the trailers and teasers for next year’s potential hits are any indication, we’re bound to have even more memorable drama serials to add to our ever-running list. Aangan (Courtyard in English), is an upcoming period drama on HUM TV that has been making rounds on the Internet from quite some time now due its star studded cast, including Sajal Aly, Ahad Raza Mir, Mawra Hocane, Ahsan Khan and Sonya Hussayn among others.Written by Mustafa Afridi, Aangan is set in 1940s touching the base of pre-partition era. “Aangan follows the story of multiple beautiful characters; it is about everybody involved and not just one person. Partition is kind of a theme but it’s about partition at home and how families are affected by partition; the partition between father and son, partition between lovers and so on,” said Ahad Raza Mir in a statement. Starring the much loved on-screen couple, Ahad and Sajal, the first teaser of Aangan revealed the exciting chemistry between the two. “Just thought of a poetic verse, but there’s a slight difference in its hyper-metre,” says Sajal to Ahad in a shot, and he replies, “Go on! Say it!” Sajal recites, “I’m mad in your love, you’re a burning candle and I’m a moth fearlessly ready to get burnt by you.” Ahad as Jameel seems like a shy guy who is in love with Chammi, played by Sajal, a lively girl who is a poetry enthusiast and loves to tease Jameel. What makes Aangan so interesting and what made Sajal sign the project? Sajal says, “What makes it interesting is that it focuses on the partition of a family. The real ‘drama’ is seeing the physical and emotional divide of a country. For me it has never been about a star studded cast although it’s always great to work with a good team but the story is what draws me towards a project.” she adds, “It’s a period play and I haven’t done a period play so far. So, this is my first one and I always wanted to do one. The other best thing about this play is my character ‘Chammi’. It’s a very different character and I can’t explain in words how variant it is so you all have to watch and find out.”If you think Aangan is only about Ahad and Sajal there’s much more to this period drama. A love triangle? Maybe. “The experience of playing Aaliya has been one of a kind and Director Ehtesham has been amazing. I’m excited that I’m romancing Ahad, Ahsan Khan and another actor whose name I can’t reveal yet. But I’ll be romancing three boys and my character happens to be the narrator of the story. She is, in a way, the protagonist of the drama,” said Mawra Hocane in a statement. “It’s nice that the entire story revolves around Aaliya. Whatever you see in the drama, you see through her eyes,” she added.“The script is so beautiful, the way it splits up into multiple tracks and the story changes in every episode. Every time, you’ll have something new to see. It’s stretched over a several decades, a long timespan,” says Mawra.